HygieniqueSelect inspects all participating properties
routinely for the presence of bed bugs using K9 scent detection dogs.
Our clients practice due diligence for your protection.
Bed bug infestations are becoming more prevalent in hotels. Humans and Pets can be significantly affected. Employee awareness, inspection and detection are the most important components of an integrated pest management plan. Combined with a thorough cleaning and hygiene program, bed bug control practices should be routinely proactive instead of reactive. The existence of bed bugs within a premise not only ruins reputations, but has become costly on many fronts.
These creatures are difficult to detect with the human eye, but during a night’s sleep they can cover a guest with bites.
Bed bugs are small, brownish, flattened insects that feed solely on the blood of animals. The common bed bug, cimex lectularius, a species adapted to living with humans, appears to be the most prevalent in Canada & U.S.A.
Information about bed bugs is prevalently found on the internet, in the press, and from government & health publications. The following is a summary of some of the most commonly distributed information.
For a half century, North American hotels rarely experienced a bed bug infestation. Many pest control professionals indicate that international travel, more frequent travel and less effective pesticides have allowed the bed bug’s resurgence. Bed bugs move quickly, are nocturnal, feed mainly at night and are difficult to detect during day light. Bed bugs hide close to where people sleep; a mattress, box spring, bed frame & headboard are some of the most common harborages. An adult female bed bug can lay hundreds of eggs. Immature nymphs can hatch in less than a week, molt and complete a life cycle within 6 weeks. The eggs are tiny, whitish and difficult to detect. Too often, hotels only find out about an infestation from a bitten guest. A bed bug bite can cause distress, discomfort and potentially lead to more serious health matters. Reportedly, a percentage of bed bug victims fall to more serious conditions like infection, anaphylactic shock or phobic disorders.
A report of a bed bug infestation can result in a hotel refunding room charges, closing rooms, replacing furnishings and fumigating. Bed bugs present a higher business risk than other pests; they can tarnish a hotel’s reputation and may entail litigation. Any bed bug bites requiring medical treatment may be at a hotel’s expense. Where infestations require chemical fumigation, hotel room closures are inevitable.
It is prudent for a hotel to have a continuing program of surveillance in order to detect the presence of bed bugs. Mattresses, beds and hotel rooms should be routinely inspected and sanitized to satisfy a hotel’s due diligence. As part of an integrated hygiene and pest management program, a monthly canine inspection of rooms is recommended. It falls within the lifecycle time frame (36 – 48 days) of a bed bug. Integrated pest management in British Columbia requires that pesticides and insecticides not be widely or routinely sprayed and then applied only by a licensed pest management professional. A hotel’s pest control contractor can more effectively target where bed bugs are detected by HygieniqueSelect’s canine unit.
Canine Bed Bug detection is the latest tool in a hotel’s integrated hygiene & pest management program. Integrated pest management (IPM) involves the use of all appropriate technology and management practices to bring about prevention and suppression of pests in an environmentally sound manner. Maverick & Roo, two of only a few dogs in Canada, are highly trained for bed bug detection. Together with their handler, Stewart Philpott, they demonstrate the latest technique and international trend for finding bed bugs in hotels.
Dogs have been successfully used by enforcement agencies to locate firearms, explosives, narcotics, missing persons and accelerants used in suspected arson cases. The same training used for these purposes is now being used to train dogs to search for bed bugs, termites and mold. HygieniqueSelect’s two friendly Labrador retrievers Maverick & Roo and their handler Stewart Philpott were all trained by Bill Whitstine, Certified Master Trainer and owner of the Florida Canine (K9) Academy. Bill received his Master Trainer certification from Maine State Police Canine Academy and Florida International University.
Trained hotel staff can detect visible signs of bed bugs but these signs are difficult to detect. The detection requires considerable time and oftentimes the dismantling of room fixtures. A modest inspection of a hotel room for bed bugs could easily take an hour. Due to the dogs’ keen sense of smell, Maverick and Roo can quickly detect bed bugs behind baseboards, under bedding, in nightstands, in mattresses and box springs. Once a bed bug is located, the dogs perform a “passive alert”, where they sit and point to the infected area. All alert locations are documented, reported, & contained. The dogs are not intimidating; they are presented as security dogs which have readily gained the trust and comfort of the general public.
Maverick and Roo, HygieniqueSelect’s bed bug scent dogs, are under the watchful medical care of Dr. Janet Jones D.V.M. All shots & vaccines are up to date. Both dogs are on Revolution™, a monthly regime to protect against fleas, ticks and heartworm. They are regularly groomed and brushed prior to working. There is little chance of a Guest’s pet contracting a disease from the canine dog team.
Hygiene: conditions or practices (as of cleanliness) conducive to health.
Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary.
Experience a HygieniqueSelect Hotel
CANADA and USA
